Inquest Documents for Dick, 1760 Collection

Version: 9 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:25:05 PM

Added description

Description

New Haven County Superior Court Inquest Documents – Dick, 1760 (Black, African American, and Indigenous History)

Overview

This digital collection comprises high‑resolution scans of two primary legal documents from the New Haven County Superior Court, produced on August 9, 1760, following the drowning of “Dick,” a negro servant in Branford, Connecticut. The collection is held in the public domain by the Connecticut State Library and is part of the NHSC BAAI (Black, African American, and Indigenous History) retrospective.

Background

The case illustrates colonial inquest procedures for sudden deaths. The jury, composed of local residents such as David Rose, John Russell Jull, and Nathan Palmer, examined the circumstances and rendered a verdict. The documents were created by the New Haven County Superior Court and later digitized under a National Historical Publications and Records Commission grant that supports the NHSC BAAI project, which seeks to index and contextualize court records involving African American and Indigenous individuals.

Contents

  • Verdict of Jury (Image 001) – A handwritten record declaring the death “casual by drowning in water,” signed by all jurors and dated August 9, 1760.
  • Return to Superior Court (Image 002) – A formal report addressed to the Honorable Superior Court of New Haven, summarizing the inquest findings and referencing the case “Rich b. Negroman.”
  • Metadata for each image includes provenance, creator (New Haven County Superior Court), language (English), and subject headings (Inquest, Drowning, African American History, Black History, Legal Documents, Branford, New Haven County, Black, African American, and Indigenous History).
  • The files are available as large TIFF scans (≈ 35–36 MB each) and are indexed by the NHSC BAAI Cases Papers subject field.

Scope

The collection documents a single inquest event in Branford, Connecticut, in August 1760. It is geographically confined to New Haven County and thematically focused on colonial legal procedures, the treatment of African American individuals in the legal system, and the documentation of accidental deaths. Ancillary records such as original death certificates, witness statements, or subsequent legal actions beyond the return to the Superior Court are not included. Researchers interested in legal history, racial justice, and the archival record of inquests in Connecticut will find this collection valuable.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

@file_pinax:file {type: "metadata"}

@file_pinax -> metadata -> @inquest_documents_for_dick_1760:collection {access_url: "PLACEHOLDER", source: "PINAX", rights: "Public Domain"}

@inquest_documents_for_dick_1760:collection {title: "Inquest Documents for Dick, 1760", creator: [@david_rose, @jon_th_russell_jull, @nathan_palmer, @daniel_barker, @john_byrleton, @david_harrison, @john_russell, @solomon_rock, @david_hope_sr, @daniel_barker_jenner, @noah_harrison, @timothy_russell, @jon_th_russell, @mr_jas_rose, @new_haven_county_superior_court], institution: @connecticut_state_library, created: @date_1760_08_09, language: "en", subjects: [@inquest, @drowning, @black_african_american_and_indigenous_history, @legal_document, @new_haven_county_ct, @branford_ct], description: "Collection of inquest documents related to the death of Dick, a negro man servant, who drowned in Branford, Connecticut in August 1760. Includes the verdict of the jury of inquest and a return to the Superior Court. High‑resolution scans of inquest documents involving Black, African American, and Indigenous individuals.", rights: "Public Domain"}

@inquest_documents_for_dick_1760 -> part of -> @inquest_dick_collection:collection

@inquest_documents_for_dick_1760 -> subject -> @inquest:concept

@inquest_documents_for_dick_1760 -> subject -> @legal_document:concept

@inquest_documents_for_dick_1760 -> subject -> @black_african_american_and_indigenous_history:concept

@inquest_documents_for_dick_1760 -> place -> @branford_ct

@inquest_documents_for_dick_1760 -> place -> @new_haven_county_ct

@new_haven_county_superior_court:organization -> creator of -> @inquest_documents_for_dick_1760:collection

@inquest_dick_collection:collection -> indexed by -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:field

Metadata

Version History (9 versions)

  • ✓ v9 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:25:05 PM
    "Added description"
  • v8 · 12/4/2025, 3:04:19 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v7 · 12/4/2025, 6:44:15 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v6 · 12/4/2025, 6:33:07 AM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 2 groups"
  • v5 · 12/4/2025, 6:33:06 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM10YJBD9J6GTN1JFTVZD78"
  • v4 · 12/4/2025, 6:33:04 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM10X2HJBW0N6KZAMKDKXRG"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 6:22:16 AM · View this version
    "Added OCR to 2 files"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:45 AM · View this version
    "Set parent to 01KBKZYT0EP3B3FKJHAY6X008T"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:31 AM · View this version
    "Initial snapshot"

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

Files were grouped thematically by content (inquest documents) and technically by preservation format (high-res scans). The two JPGs with OCR text form one logical group documenting the historical event, while their TIFF counterparts form a parallel preservation group. No files remained ungrouped because all filenames clearly reference the same case (Dick's 1760 inquest).

## Groups Created

- **Inquest_Documents_Dick_1760**: Files related to the 1760 inquest into the death of Dick (a Black man) in Branford, Connecticut. These documents include the jury's verdict and official return to the Superior Court.
- **High_Resolution_Scans_Inquest_Dick**: Preservation-quality TIFF scans of the original inquest documents (same content as JPG versions but in archival format).

Parent

01KBKZYT0EP3B3FKJHAY6X008T

Children (2)